Saturday, 12 April 2008

Whether inspired by a religious mandate to love others or a humanist motivation to engage in acts of kindness towards one's fellow man, I am always heartened to hear stories about my fellow humans who do good.

Most of these stories don't make the headline news and so go largely unnoticed until they happen within our circles of acquaintance. Case in point: my friend Lacy Claeys, a dentist from Helena, Montana and her young dental assistant, Helena High School senior Luke Dutton, rode a bus for 22 hours south of their comfort zones to perform heroic acts of kindhearted dentistry on young orphans in Juarez, Mexico.

Some of their stories are so unfathomably heartbreaking--like the 12-year old prostitute with a herpes infection in the back of her throat--that it's no wonder Lacy and Luke are having trouble reintegrating back in Helena. To say I wish them well would be an understatement.

So here's to all the unsung heroes out there like Lacy and Luke, may they find the strength to do more good, and may we all--regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof--be inspired by their acts of human kindness and willingness to expose themselves to soul-wrenching poverty despite the psychological consequences.

Read more about Lacy and Luke and their great big hearts at Helenair.com.

Sunday, 6 April 2008

I'm on the radio! Listen again (mp3) and/or visit Atheists Talk. It's a full hour of Peter McGrath and me stumping for The Beagle Project, so you might want to use the loo and get some popcorn before you click.

About Data Not Shown

After about a year of blogging over at The Beagle Project Blog, I realised there were certain things I wanted to write about that might be considered a leeeetle too opinionated or off-topic to warrant posting there. See, The Beagle Project is a team effort, and I had the growing worry that with certain posts I might be infecting the others (and the project as a whole) with Karen cooties. So, while I still consider The Beagle Project Blog my primary blogspot, the views expressed over here at Data Not Shown are mine ...my own ...my precious. You can learn more about Data Not Shown, including an explanation of the title, in my inaugural post.